Power Ratings (typical) for Common Appliances

Look up the the typical power rating (in Watts) of many common household appliances. Use this information to help estimate how large your alternative energy system needs to be.

Typical Power Ratings for Appliances

Appliance

Watts

Air Conditioner

Room*

1000

Central*

2000 - 5000

Air Conditioners rated in tons

Per Ton

3517

e.g., 5 Ton AC Unit

17585

Blender

300

Blow Dryer

1000 - 1500

CB Radio

5

CD Player

15 - 30

Ceiling Fan

10 - 50

Computer

Laptop

20 - 75

Desktop PC

80 - 200

Printer

100

Coffee Maker

800

Clock Radio

1

Dishwasher

1200 - 1500

Dryer (Clothes)

Electric*

4000

Gas Heated

300 - 400

Electric Blanket

200

Electric Clock

1

Electric Frying Pan

1200

Freezer

Conventional 14cf (15 hrs/day runtime)

445

Sun Frost 19cf Freezer

112

Furnace Blower

300 - 1000

Garage Door Opener

350

Heater

Engine Block*

150 - 1000

Portable*

1500

Waterbed*

400

Stock Tank*

100

Hot Plate

1200

Iron

1000

Lightbulbs

Incandescent Bulbs

CFL Bulbs

100

23

75

20

60

15

40

11

Microwave

600 - 1500

Popcorn Popper

250

Refrigerator/Freezer (runtime in hours/day)

Conventional 20cf (15)

540

Conventional 16cf (15)

475

Sun Frost 16cf DC (7)

112

Sun Frost 12cf DC (7)

70

Conserv 10.5cf (8)

60

Conserv 7.5cf (8)

50

Satellite Dish

30

Sewing Machine

100

Shaver

15

Sink Waste Disposal

450

Stereo

10 - 30

Table Fan

10 - 25

Toaster

800 - 1500

Tools

Weed Eater

500

1/4" drill

250

1/2" drill

750

1" drill

1000

9" disc sander

1200

3" belt sander

1000

12" chain saw

1100

14" band saw

1100

7 1/4" circular saw

900

8 1/4" circular saw

1400

Vacuum Cleaner

Upright

200 - 700

Hand

150

VCR

40

Waffle Iron

1200

Washing Machine

500

The list to the right includes many appliances and their typical power ratings (in Watts). You can use this information to help you estimate the total amount of Watt*Hours that your alternative energy system needs to supply on an average day. Power ratings of most appliances are usually listed on the appliance itself or the manual. For a final calculation of your watt*hour usage, we recommend that you look at each appliance to be powered to find its rated power.

Visit the AltE Kill A Watt Database to find the power usage of appliances being used in the real world as recorded by members of the AltE Community. You can also buy meters, which are specifically designed to measure how much power an appliance consumes. Check out the Brand Power Meters and the Kill A Watt Power Meters. Once you figure out how much power your appliances use, don't forget to enter the information in the Kill A Watt database to help the Community!

When determining how many Watt*Hours your appliances will use, keep in mind that many of the appliances you use will only be run for an average of a few minutes per day. For instance a 500W weed eater may be used for 1 hour every week. That translates to an average of 71 Watt*Hours per day (500W / 7 Days).

Additionally, there are appliances like refrigerators which although appear to be "on" all day, actually are running between 12 to 15 hours a day (turning on and off as needed). Air conditioning units also run on and off all day depending on the cooling needs of the home and the outdoor temperature.

Finally, be aware of "ghost loads". These are devices that people commonly forget to include in their calculations. These devices typically consume a small amount of energy (<1W) but are running 24 hours a day. Examples of typical ghost loads would be AC adapters, clocks, VCRs, TVs, microwaves, and printers. Many of these devices require power to maintain their clocks running (e.g. VCR, TV, and microwave). Although the amount of energy consumed on an hourly basis is small, the fact that they run all day can easily add as much as 100W*Hrs per day.

* Ideally, these items should not be powered by a PV system, because they are considered inefficient appliances to be powered by solar or wind electric sources.